Early in 2005 EBLEX commissioned a comprehensive review of fifth quarter handling, processing and marketing.

Historically, the return from fifth quarter material had been at least sufficient to cover the cost of processing. However, following the introduction of BSE control measures, handling and disposal has become a net cost, posing a serious barrier to profitability.

The review findings, published in September 2005, identified where market opportunities lay and where improvements could be made. The review has provided the template for the EBLEX Fifth Quarter project.

The EBLEX fifth quarter project set out a number of objectives;

• to identify opportunities to reduce costs through improved operational practises
• reduce disposal costs (where unavoidable)
• identify products that could be processed and sold into the food chain
• increase the value of current product output and capitalise on the increasing demand within the domestic and export markets

EBLEX held three seminars for would-be offal exporters in March 2008. An overview of the proceedings can be downloaded below.

This industry-facing work followed the publication last year of the EBLEX recipe booklet It's All About Offal, which contained preparation tips and recipes for a number of offal cuts.

The booklet, which was part of an EBLEX Offal Renaissance campaign launched last Autumn by celebrity chef Sophie Grigson, aimed to help stimulate consumer demand for offals, which only account for around 3.6% of all fresh and frozen red meat sales (July 2006 data).

Click here for a Report of the March 2008 Fifth Quarter Seminars. (This is only available to registered website users).

In March 2007 EBLEX published a number of reports on the offal market: Gutroom Best Practice, the English Offal Market and the EU Offal Market.

For more information on EBLEX's work on the fifth quarter, contact Phil Hadley at phil.hadley@eblex.org.uk.